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Nathan Bliss

Arsenal vs Valencia score predicted in FIFA 19 ahead of Europa League semi-final first leg

Arsenal face their biggest game of their season so far on Thursday evening, as they welcome Spanish side Valencia to the Emirates for the Europa League semi-final first leg.

Unai Emery has shown that he is an expert in this competition and knows how to win it, having won it three times with Sevilla previously.

However, Valencia will be a tough test for the Gunners, with Los Che boss Marcelino making them a solid, hard to beat team, with plenty of pace on the counter-attack.

Arsenal also have a number of injury and selection issues ahead of the game, with Aaron Ramsey ruled out for the rest of the season and doubts over the fitness of Mesut Ozil.

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So, what Gunners XI will Emery put out?

And what will the final score be?

We used FIFA 19 to find out.

Arsenal vs Valencia on FIFA 19:

To set up this simulation, we used kick-off mode but didn't select a team to control; we then selected the teams and watched the match play out by itself, to give us a unique prediction.

The AI difficulty was set to world class, with the line-up updated with the latest injuries and suspensions.

Arsenal set up in a 3-4-1-2 formation, with their line-up as follows; Cech; Sokratis, Koscielny, Monreal; Kolasinac, Xhaka, Torreira, Maitland-Niles; Ozil; Aubameyang, Lacazette.

(EA Sports)

Valencia set up in their regular 4-4-2 formation, with their line-up as follows; Neto; Piccini, Garay, Gabriel, Gaya; Soler, Coquelin, Parejo, Guedes; Rodrigo, Gameiro.

(EA Sports)

The away side started the game very brightly, with Guedes and Soler causing real problems with their direct running in wide positions.

Both Cristiano Piccini and Dani Parejo had great chances to open the score early on, but Petr Cech bailed Arsenal out.

However, in the 28th minute, in what was the home side's first real attack, Mesut Ozil produced a moment of magic to put his side in front.

After some nice interplay between the front three, the ball found its way back to Ozil on the edge of the Valencia area - and the German curled the ball into the far corner with his weaker right foot.

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You would have expected the Gunners to push on after Ozil's goal, but the exact opposite happened, as the away side grabbed control of the game.

In particular, Parejo grabbed hold of the game and was dictating play from deep positions.

Los Che got their goal just before the half-time interval, with Rodrigo playing the ball into Kevin Gameiro on the edge of the box, who took one touch and smashed the ball past Cech.

After the interval, Arsenal did dominate possession, but Marcelino's side continued to look the more dangerous throughout.

Time after time, the home side's attack would break down, which would give the opposition a chance to break.

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And, in the 75th minute, Gameiro scored his second to complete the comeback.

The French striker curled the ball into the top corner from the edge of the area, after being found by Parejo, in what was a goal of high-quality.

Disappointingly, for Arsenal fans, that's how it finished.

Emery's side dominated possession, but created little from it.

(EA Sports)

Arsenal's best player on the day was Lucas Torreira, who created two chances.

(EA Sports)

The worst player for the home side was defender Nacho Monreal, who couldn't get near Gameiro for either goal.

(EA Sports)

FIFA 19 predicts that if Arsenal don't take Valencia seriously on Thursday night, they could suffer a damaging home defeat.

What do you think the result will be?

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